About NARNiHS

The North American Research Network in Historical Sociolinguistics (NARNiHS) strengthens and promotes the study of historical sociolinguistics in North America.

We understand historical sociolinguistics to be the application/development of sociolinguistic theories, models, and methods for the study of historical language variation and change over time, or more broadly, the study of the interaction of language and society in historical periods and from historical perspectives. Thus, a wide range of linguistic areas, subdisciplines, and methodologies easily find their place within the field.

NARNiHS provides a North American forum for all scholars interested in historical sociolinguistic and works to:
● give the field an active professional presence in the landscape of North American linguistics.
● provide opportunities for North American linguists working in the field to come together.
● serve as a reference for the type of work done in the field and thus help draw together a community of North American practitioners.
● help to shape the field as it matures beyond its disciplinary adolescence.
● be an identifiable locus for North American colleagues from other disciplines to discover and join in the work of historical sociolinguistics.
● be a conduit for professional ties with the Historical Sociolinguistics Network (HiSoN) and other organizations thereby facilitating international connections and collaborations for North American historical sociolinguists.

Additionally, NARNiHS seeks to facilitate exchange between linguists, historians, archivists, and other researchers collecting, cataloging, and curating language-related historical data with the hopes of working toward consistent, collaborative methods for storage, access, and analysis of this data across wide networks of scholars and organizations.